Stranger in Broken Fork
| Special = | Introducing = | Appearance = | Also = | Co = | With = | Uncredited = | Uncertain = | Producer = Lionel E. Siegel and Joe L. Cramer | Writer = | Teleplay = Bill Svanoe & Wilton Denmark | Story = Bill Svanoe | Director = Christian I. Nyby | Production = 41227 | Original = December 13, 1974 | Prev = Act of Piracy | Next = The Peeping Blonde | Related = }} An amnesiac Steve Austin becomes frightened by his own bionic abilities. Summary Steve, suffering from amnesia following a plane crash in the mountains, is found on a busy road by psychologist Angie Walker, who is in charge of an experimental convalescence home for mental patients. Leading the local residents against Angie and the hospital is grocer Horace Milsner, who tries to have her arrested on trumped up charges, but fails. Milsner then recruits others sympathetic to his cause and, armed with axe handles, they confront Angie and Steve with an ultimatum to leave. Deconstructed Quotes Horace: You're just wastin' your time; them groceries ain't for sale. Steve: Your sign outside says you sell groceries in here. Horace: Don't make no difference; them groceries ain't for sale. ---- Angie: Oh, Horace, you could've come to the front door. Horace: I don't want none of your people gaping at me. ---- Jody: Mister, are you crazy too? Steve: Well, that's a mighty big word for such a little girl. Jody: Mama says everybody here is. Steve: Well, I bet if your mom tried real hard, she could find another word to use. ---- Steve: (looking up at the sky) An F-104. Angie: How can you tell? Steve: The sound. There's not another bird around that makes that sound. Angie: Then you must be a pilot! ---- Steve: I think you know by now that the people who have been living in this house don't want anything from anybody, except friendship. Will one person in this town take a chance and be a friend? ---- Trivia Storyline * Austin is shown flying the same type of plane he flew at the beginning of "The Deadly Replay" and, like the previous episode, he is conducting a cross-country flight for reasons not explained (possibly transportation, possibly mission-related). * The jet that Steve Austin is flying when he crashes is an F-104 Starfighter. This is the same jet that Austin identifies by its sound in a scene with Angie. It makes sense that the sound of an F-104 would trigger Austin's memories since he was flying an F-104 when the amnesia began. * Flashbacks include footage of the M3FS/HL-10 crash as seen in the opening credits, along with some footage from the 1973 pilot film. * The co-ordinates of Steve's crashed plane are for Ogden-Hinkley airport in Ogden, Utah. Cast * As discussed in The Bionic Book, several years before appearing in this episode, guest star Sharon Farrell suffered a brain injury that left her with total amnesia. According to Farrell, quoted in the book, no one in the cast or crew of The Six Million Dollar Man were aware of this, nor was the general public, until she came forward with her story some years later. * This episode's main antagonist is played by Robert Donner. Donner plays a character who is intolerant of people with mental illness. Years later, Donner played Exidor on Mork and Mindy. Exidor was Mork's eccentric (and perhaps mentally ill) friend who claimed to be a prophet and often spoke to imaginary friends. Crew * Director Christian I. Nyby is the father of Christian I. Nyby, II, who had been the director of several of the preceding episodes. The elder Nyby's credits include the 1950s sci-fi classic The Thing From Another World. Production * As with "Act of Piracy", a number of scenes involve voiceovers over stock footage, especially the sequences showing search and rescue efforts. Bionics * We learn for the first time that a major malfunction to Steve's arm has the ability to incapacitate him, even kill him. This is a theme that returns in later episodes such as "The Bionic Woman". Gaffes Continuity *Elements of the original pilot film are shown in flashback, along with opening credits footage of Austin's original crash. As with the earlier episode, "The Deadly Replay", this continues to support the version of events seen in the opening credits as being the canonical account, and not the version seen in the 1973 pilot film or the two TV movies that followed. * When Steve Austin remembers Oscar Goldman in flashback, we see footage from the next episode to be broadcast, "The Peeping Blonde", suggesting the two had been flipped in the broadcast scheduling. * Obvious stunt double for Lee Majors when "Steve" jumps off the back of the truck near the end of the episode. * A previously unheard of bionics expert, Wayne Carlton, makes an appearance and informs Oscar of the problem with Steve's bionics. Is Rudy Wells on holiday? * Considering Steve makes an issue out of discovering his bionic strength, and wondering if he's human, it's interesting he makes no mention, nor does he particularly react, when his bionic eye activates. Gallery Image:SMDM_BrokenFork21.jpg 210